Balcombe Tennis 2012/13 Season Newsletter

• Open Day
• Membership Fees
• Clubhouse Refurbishment
• Padlock Codes
• Regulations
• Events
• Important Notes

Open Day: Sunday 22^nd of April 2012, 3pm to 5pm

We are holding our Open Day on Sunday 22^nd of April 2012, 3pm to 5pm. Come along to play some tennis and to renew your membership. You can download the membership form in advance from here, and there will be some blank forms available on the day. You are welcome to bring friends along who might be interested in joining. Refreshments will be provided.

Membership Fees for 2012/2013

The new season begins on 1 April and for the third year running we will be keeping our fees at the same low levels as follows:

This applies to a family of two adults and two children. For each additional junior member there is an additional fee of £5.

It is important to renew your membership as soon as possible as the padlock code for both the courts and the Clubhouse will change after our Open Day.

If you are unable to come to the courts on the Open Day please complete the downloaded form and return it to our Membership Secretary, Neil (811465).

We would be grateful if you would continue to pass the word around and encourage people to join. We are completely self reliant for funding, the only real income we have comes in the form of membership fees and we very much want to keep this facility operating as a village amenity. We feel that the current fee structure offers very good value for money, particularly with the refurbishment of the Clubhouse and so please make sure that everyone that you are playing with on a regular basis is a member, even children, or a fee paying visitor. We need everyone to contribute to the fee income thus enabling us to continue to keep the fees at this sort of level.

Clubhouse refurbishment

The dynamic Michelle Record (our new Club Secretary) has been busily seeking the help of local businesses - Simon Bishop, Lee Marshall of L Marshall Construction and Tom Bottomley of Balcombe Flooring, who have all been generous in helping with a complete refurbishment of the somewhat tired and shabby old Clubhouse (Club hut to some). Jamie Kirkman of Balcombe Estate Sawmill and Barry Langley have also been hugely helpful in renovating the boundary fence, and giving the trees a good old tidy up. We hope that all work will be finished for our Open Day on Sunday 22 April, 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.

Padlock codes

The single code for the padlocks for both the courts and the Clubhouse will be changed from time to time during the season so please look out for the email informing you of the new code and please do not divulge the code to non-members.

Regulations

Please take a few minutes to read our regulations which are on our website www.balcombetennis.com. The most important of these are as follows:

• 40 minute rule: There is no booking system outside of the pre-arranged coaching sessions on the Weekly Calendar (which will be on display at the courts and on the website). Simply turn up to play and if someone else is using the courts then you will have to wait no more than 40 minutes as our regulations state that players must give up the court after 40 minutes of playing if someone is waiting.
• Coaching Slots: Times to avoid are Mondays from 3.30 - 6.30 p.m. and Tuesdays from 3.30 – 5.45 p.m. when children’s coaching takes place and Fridays from 9.30 to 12.00 when ladies’ coaching takes place.
• Visitors: Members may play with non-members but there is a fee of £3.00. The member should ensure that the fee is paid to Karen Deck, Cobbles, Oldlands Avenue, Balcombe RH17 6LP (Tel no: 811086) – Karen is happy for you to post it through her letterbox.
• Public playing sessions: So that we qualify for exemption from paying rates, we have to allow non-members to use one of the courts at certain times and these are Monday 5.30 p.m. – dusk, Tuesday 10.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. and Saturday 1.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. A public playing session must be arranged with Karen Deck and the fee is £3.00 per hour for the court.
• Footwear: Please make sure you wear non-marking trainers when on the courts. There is no other dress code.

Club Nights

We will attempt to get these going once again on Thursdays at 7.00 p.m., whatever your level you can turn up and get a game.

Events

• Olympic Day - We hope to hold a joint event with Balcombe Scouts some time in June. Details to follow later in the year.
• Tournaments – These will be announced via email etc., as and when organised.
• Fun Day – After the success of last year’s Fun Day, we hope to organise another this year. Announcements will be made via email etc.

Our very own Online Shopping Portal

Please consider doing your Online Shopping through our Club Website's Online Shopping Portal: For every £100 that you spend when you do your online purchases through here, between £2 and £8 goes back to the Club. Most major UK electronics, appliance, clothing, mobile telephone, entertainment, holiday and DIY brands are represented here, including Amazon, John Lewis, T-Mobile, Toys-R-Us, Thorntons, WHSmith, B&Q, Boots etc.

The process is simple: Go to our Online Shopping Portal, select your retailer (100's of them!), click on the retailer's logo and you are taken straight to their website where you can browse and purchase as you normally would. You need do nothing more!

Also, look out for the Daily Special Offers!

Important Notes:

• All people using the courts must be members (except for public playing sessions), including those being coached by Advantage Receiver, Tom Usborne or any other coach.
• Our rubbish is not collected by Mid Sussex District Council so please remove your own rubbish at the end of your playing session.

Have a great season!

Baz Bolland

Chair, Balcombe Tennis – Telephone 811839